Bitfury’s North American Mining Proxy Hut 8 to List on TSX This Month

Canada appears poised to become a new global hub for bitcoin miners. Already known to be attracting Chinese miners diversifying away from their home market with its cheap hydro-power electricity and cold climate, the country’s latest draw is easy access to capital. Firms such as Hut 8 are set to tap its welcoming market for early stage ventures.

Bitfury IPO

Vancouver-based Hut 8 Mining Corp., a part of the Bitfury Group, is scheduled to list on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto, Canada this month. After its debut, Hut 8 will be 49 percent owned by the parent group, and the remaining stock in the hands of insiders and private placement investors.

It is planned that by mid of the year, Hut 8 will acquired 60 megawatts of Bitfury’s mining power in Canada and have an exclusive agreement with the parent company to develop new farms in all of North America, according to its investor presentation. Hedge fund mogul Mike Novogratz is also said to be financing the deal.

Bitfury reportedly has 172 megawatts of hashing power, mined over a million coins, and its yearly revenue was an estimated $350 million. And Chief Executive Officer Valery Vavilov puts the company’s market share at about 10 to 12 percent.

The Canadian Connection

Canada has been able to leverage its cold weather and cheap hydro-electric power to attract cryptocurrency miners, but in this case the came for another reason. The TSX allows firms to easily raise public funds, a critical point for Bitfury who needs to compete with the much larger Bitmain. “This industry’s dependency on highly efficient silicon can determine who wins and loses,” explained venture capital investor Bill Tai. “Part of this equation is access to capital. It’s very much like oil rigs, the more you can put up, the more output you’re going to get.”

Sean Clark, chief executive officer of Hut 8, commented: “This is about access to capital and scale. We found a perfect vehicle to capitalize incredibly quickly. Bitfury now is going to rebalance the global network.” He added that: “If the capital markets react as we expect them to, there’s the opportunity to vend in other parts of Bitfury. Potentially all of Bitfury – piece by piece.”

Is Canada becoming the new global hub for bitcoin mining? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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